Ralf even surprises himself

Afterwards he admitted he had even surprised himself.

The Williams BMW racer had complained two weeks ago in Canada that his team had lost ground to its rivals - particularly Benetton. But in France, Schumacher and Williams-BMW bounced back to the head of the pack chasing pacesetters McLaren and Ferrari as he stole fifth place off Eddie Irvine with his very last lap.

"I am very happy and, to be honest, I am a little surprised too," said Schumacher. "After the test last week I expected to be between seventh and 10th. But the team has sorted out the problems and we were so well prepared for this session.

"Now I'm looking forward to the race because I like the circuit and I have a great chance to get some good points."

Schumacher was praised by technical director Patrick Head after snatching fifth from Eddie Irvine's Jaguar.

"Very impressive. He just went out there and did it," said Head.

"This is one of our best results so far this season with Ralf being just six-tenths off pole," said BMW boss Gerhard Berger. "In the last few races we had lost the rhythm due to the chaos, the accidents and the crazy weather - but it looks like we have got it back again. What Ralf did on his last lap was very impressive."

And there was even better news in that the man ahead of him in the drivers' championship, Giancarlo Fisichella, is way down in 14th on the grid.